If you’ve never been to the South, you may not appreciate the importance of this recipe. For those who live in the southeastern part of the USA, “sweet tea” is a unique regional beverage, and they consume copious amounts of it. For me, it’s a guilty pleasure, completely different from the unsweetened iced tea available in the rest of the country.
12 tea bags of black tea — such as Luzianne, Rose’s, or Lipton
1 gallon water
1 to 1-1/2 C sugar
Ice
Lemon wedges
Bring 6 C of water to a boil in a saucepan and remove from heat. Place the tea bags in the water and let steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags, squeezing them into the tea. Stir in the sugar.
Pour the tea into a 1-gallon pitcher and add the remaining cold water.
To serve, fill a tall glass with ice and pour the tea over it. Garnish with a lemon wedge.